Analyst: Dr. Doreen Galli
Published May 8, 2023
ABSTRACT
The Channel Partners Conference and Expo and MSP Summit, held in Las Vegas from May 1-4, 2023, brought together industry professionals seeking insights and strategies to advance their businesses. The event brought together industry professionals seeking insights on the workforce and business landscape amidst current times. With over 120 sessions, the conference addressed the pandemic’s impact on leadership styles, customer expectations, and growth opportunities. Attendees were advised to adapt to the evolving economy and invest in talent retention. The event also focused on current technologies like cloud, security, AI, and IoT, covering topics such as private cloud capabilities and defending against unknown threats.
Conference Vibe
The Channel Partners Conference and Expo and MSP Summit (Managed Service Providers) was held at the Venetian Expo in Las Vegas on May 1-4, 2023. It features over 120 sessions across the 4 days. Attendees were excited to garner insights on current times and current technologies to move their business to the next level.
Current Times
Understanding the impact of current times on business was top of mind at the Channel Partners Conference and MSP Summit. During the panel session for ‘Rethinking the Workforce of Tomorrow,’ it was pointed out that there are 5 generations in the current workforce (1). The ‘Ultimate Vendor Power Panel’ featured discussions among industry leaders regarding how the pandemic changed leadership styles, customer expectations, employee expectations, and growth opportunities (2). The consensus was that current times are very different from pre-pandemic.
Attendees were also reminded that the current economy is always good for some business segment (3). The message was to always evaluate and adjust to who is winning today. For those concerned with scaling and finding the right people, C3 Technology Advisors emphasized the need to invest upfront to attract and retain people (4). Magnitech poignantly reminded everyone that it takes happy employees to make happy customers (5). Likewise, we were reminded that technological tools will continue to evolve. Furthermore, resisting or failing to adopt the advancements will be a barrier to growth and market competitiveness (6).
Current Technologies
The Channel Partners Conference and MSP Summit did have some coverage of technology topics. Cloud, security, AI (Artificial Intelligence), and IoT (Internet of Things) were all showcased at the event. US Signal demonstrated their Private Cloud capabilities (7). The Field
Guide to Cloud Native Maturity was showcased on stage so attendees could properly advise their clients (8). IBM not only shared their cloud capabilities but shared how using their products on
AWS can help meet your AWS commitments (9). Verizon highlighted the current trend of customers to focus on optimizing their cloud spend (10).
In TBW Advisors Conference Whispers highlights, it was noted that the NABShow showcased their mature enterprise generative AI solutions used in production for some time. Furthermore, our highlights of the Call & Contact Center showcased their newly developed solutions already in production. Together, these examples demonstrated the progress of enterprise generative AI. Nonetheless, during the AI Panel at Channel Partners Conference, it was suggested that Large Language Models (LLMs), the underlying technology of generative AI, were not yet in enterprise production (11). However, there was an active conversation building on the insightful history of AI that kicked it all off by Talus (12).
The Internet of Things (IoT) was another important topic of conversation during the event. BH IoT Group shared insights on how to make money on IoT and even offered their services to assist attendees in getting started with their ventures (13).
Various security providers and products were also present to share their capabilities. Xcitium emphasized the importance of defending against unknown threats (14). Securing endpoints be it remote workers or IoT solutions are of particular importance. Fortunately, ThreatLocker delivered a highly engaging keynote to meet the needs of attendees and provide a roadmap to related solutions in this space (15).
Next Year’s Conference
The next Channel Partners Conference and Expo will be held June 13-14, 2023 in London UK.
Citations
- https://youtu.be/D_AHmQAIlx4
- https://youtu.be/8u9ltTFisBs
- https://youtu.be/82lOqCAmUmk
- https://youtu.be/R0wdGy0b2VM
- https://youtu.be/cy-2FtEvLaA
- https://youtu.be/GE35cTMUA90
- https://youtu.be/aAVMa2stz_4
- https://youtu.be/4nBJzUn1vcM
- https://youtu.be/FI3fhQqFv84
- https://youtu.be/dYrRkpU9oBQ
- https://youtu.be/BAvPdkFX03A
- https://youtu.be/i64fM0em54c
- https://youtu.be/AdRo4U98hQY
- https://youtu.be/SgzzXLjEFpI
- https://youtu.be/PvV3HKkrVVI
*When vendors’ names are shared as examples in this document, it is to provide a concrete example of what was on display at the conference, not an evaluation or recommendation. Evaluation and recommendation of these vendors are beyond the scope of this specific research document. Other examples products in the same category may have also been on display.
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